


Turn Back the Clock

by APHTrashbin (verfens)



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, F/M, M/M, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-24
Updated: 2014-01-29
Packaged: 2018-01-09 21:16:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1150873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/verfens/pseuds/APHTrashbin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The world is in ruins. England has a very specific job for an old friend: Prevent World War I. Prussia has to stop the bloody 20th century in her tracks- and save the lives of countless nations who were killed in the crossfire.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pilot

There were two men that were briskly walking in the woods. One was silver haired, with bloody red eyes, the other blonde with eyes that matched the surrounding forest.

"Are you sure about doing this England?" The silver haired man, with a low, rough voice asked. "You're sending me back to a time where we haven't even learned about antibiotics."

"I know what I'm doing." Irritation was clear in the blonde man's voice. He turned to the man as they stopped in the middle of a clearing. "Now, keep quiet, or some refugee will find us, and try and mug us." He muttered, before handing him a strange device. "Take this. I've got it set to the proper time and place, and now we're in the location you specified you were in when I asked."

Prussia muttered something under his breath. "Germany's birthplace has been destroyed to the point that it looks like it did when I was born?" He rolled his eyes. "No respect. It's been desolated. This used to be a vibrant city."

England looked ready to kill him. "Shut your trap before I put you back where I got you."

The silver haired man put his hands up in surrender. "Whoa, now let's not go making threats. Yes, this was where I was at this date, 1871. I was looking for the tot that'd go along with the state I'd just made."

"This was why you weren't my first choice, but there's nothing I could do. Germany refused to come when he was called. But you did, so I had to use you." England said, pulling a grimace. "Just don't muck this up. Remember, after you have done as your leader told, you must come to my house. Show me the device, and tell me what is going on. I should be willing to help, albeit reticent." He ordered, and put the device on Prussia's wrist. "Hit that button. If you need to start over, remember not to mess with the date. This is where you can make a difference, Gilbert." He used his human name to be kind. "Make the most out of the chance I'm giving you. But above all, stop the war. The war is what started the ball rolling."

"Right-o." He muttered, getting ready. "Will it hurt?"

"Probably a great deal." England said, matter-of-fact, making a face. "I will stay here, and this future will be destroyed. You'll be the only one to remember anything. You will not be able to return here."

"Not that I'd want to. Have you seen this place?" He joked, before England glared him down. "Fine, fine. I'm going."

Prussia took a deep breath, and pressed the button. The forest around him was gone in a millisecond, and he screamed as his body burned away, going back in time.

He saw the world around him in vague flashes, the sky becoming bluer after a long chunk of grey.

The forest looked greener, until it was replaced by a destroyed city, then the city was built up around him, before it was gone again, replaced by a garden.

It was there he heard a "What the fuck?" Before his past and future selves crashed into one another.

His spirit went into his youngers body, and he cried out as his limbs grew, tattoos were added, his eyesight worsened.

Everything on him was shaking when the device finally stopped, and Gilbert was left on the grassy floor, panting hard.

His clothes had ripped, meant for a Prussia that was 200 years younger. He sat up. "Lord have mercy." He muttered, rubbing his aching temples. "That's a headrush."

Then he felt the power of his nation fill him once more, and he moaned at that. He had forgotten how good it had felt to be an empire.

He stood, and his clothes ripped further. "God dammit." He said, and had to steal some off the clothesline, getting changed into them as he tore off the ruined items.

He rubbed the nape of his neck, and sighed. "Now, I'm in Berlin. Time to find Germany."

He was used to the stares he got in the city, grumbling as he looked for the place he had found him last time.

He was passing a sweets shop when he spotted a tiny blonde head, followed by a familiar white dress. It was a baby nation- one that he had seen grow up the last time around. He smiled, and spoke in their language, making some people stare harder. "Hey little guy. Nice to meet you." He didn't let the instincts of the boy nation kick in, scooping him up before he could run from one of the strongest of their kind.

He struggled, vacant blue eyes showing hints of fear. He had just been formed, after all. "Germany, I'm not going to hurt you." He murmured, and the little one showed shock at the elder knowing his name.

"I…don't know that." He mumbled. "You're big."

"I know. But big doesn't mean bad." He said, still smiling softly. He had missed his brother. "I'm Prussia. I'm the one who made you." The tiny Germany showed some understanding at that.

"Made me? You mean…you want me?" Prussia nodded, and brought him to the building where Bismarck was waiting for him to report back.

"Yes, we need you, you see." Prussia kissed his forehead. "I'm your big brother. And you are the head of my empire."

Germany's eyes went wide. He made a squeaking noise, before he allowed Prussia to carry him inside. He set the boy on his boss's desk. "One baby nation, just like you asked." He said, and Bismarck looked up to him in surprise.

"Why are you dressed like some commoner?" He asked, getting his feathers rumpled.

"I had a growth spurt. The clothes literally ripped off me." Prussia laughed. "I had to grab  _something_."

"You are bigger." He admitted, looking him over.

Prussia's laughter died quickly, remembering his task. "Look, you and I have to talk about something, but I have a few things to do before that."

Bismarck nodded. "I have some plans for you to approve as well. Good day to you, I will dine with you tonight."

Admitting you're from the future was not polite dinner discussion, Gilbert decided, though he had no choice. "I'm going out. I'll take him with me, just gotta get some stuff out from my closet." He picked the boy up, and brought him to his storage room. "This is where I keep all my stuff, little guy."

It was a dusty place, but he'd clean it later. For now, he got out the clothes he had prepared for the arrival of a new nation. He took the dress off him, replacing it with more appropriate clothes for a small boy in this day and age. "There we are." He said, and put the tot on his shoulders. "Now, we're off."

"Off where?" The young nation of Germany squeaked.

"To Britain." Prussia laughed. "We're going to need an ally in a high place."


	2. Gold Lion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gilbert goes to England to get some much needed help- and to convince him that they need a third member to their world-saving group.

"Why Britain?" The young boy asked. "Who's he?"

"Britain, is the one nation you don't want to go to war with." He said, grimacing as he vaguely remembered World War I, where Britain and Prussia had fought until the bell rung for them to stop, and even then, Britain had come so close to punching his sorry, beaten ass into further submission when their respective caretakers tugged them apart, Germany hanging out with Italy while his big bro took care of business. "Try not to speak around him. Let me handle this." He said, and shifted his hold on him to put him on his shoulders.

"So, why are we going to him?" Germany asked, innocently.

"I need his help for what I need to do." Gilbert said.

"And what's that?" He murmured, resting his head on his big brothers' own.

"That, you're too young to know now." He murmured, pulling him back down into his arms. "I'll tell you when you're older, and can understand why I'm doing this."

Ludwig pouted a little bit, before he yawned.

"You haven't slept since you were formed, have you?" He asked, cradling the boy. "Get some rest. I'll wake you up if something interesting happens."

Gilbert went to the edge of his country, and sighed. Unlike in the modern day, they weren't exactly allowed free reign of the land. If he crossed over into France, then Francis, with his current vendetta against him for winning the Franco Prussian War, might just appear in front of him to try and kick his ass. And with a baby nation with him, he couldn't risk that. So he would have to travel, by boat, to England from Prussia. So he started walking again, this time to the border. He could travel across his own country very fast, just not other countries. Soon he was at the border, and chartered a boat.

He put his younger brother in the cabin, and stood on the edge of the boat as the captain got them across the channel.

England knew he was coming from the moment he got into his waters. That was going to probably piss him off, but he didn't care. He had to see him and do his job. He fiddled with his pocket watch, and didn't take out his iPod. The captain was already uneasy at his appearance, he didn't need to make him wonder what he was holding. That was for England.

He grumbled as he was finally allowed off the boat, and suspicious green eyes watched him from the harbor. Gilbert smiled lazily, carrying his younger brother again. "Yo. Nice to see you again, Arthur." He waved, speaking in English. That made Arthur's mouth drop open. He- Gilbert-had only bothered to learn English in the past 20 years or so, in this timeline, and had never bothered to use it around the Brit.

He laughed heartily, and got off the boat. "Didn't expect that did you." He muttered, and brought Ludwig over to the suspicious nation.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I need to talk to you in private. I have a message from my boss." Prussia said easily. lying to his face as Arthur had instructed him to. England still seemed suspicious of his motives, but allowed him.

"Fine. But only because you kicked France's sorry arse." England muttered, and Gilbert had gotten the all clear. He shifted his little brother in his arms, and England eyed the boy uneasily. "Who is that?" He asked, obviously nervous about the young nation in his arms.

 

"This right here is what I've been fighting for for the past hundred years, and more so before that." He smiled brightly. "A unified German nation."

That made England look a little frightened, but he didn't say anything. "You're stirring up trouble, Prussia." He warned.

"And that's why I'm here to talk." He grinned, trying to avoid the topic of him stirring up the status quo.

"Good." He rolled his eyes a little bit. "You couldn't be happy with being the leading German nation- you had to become more powerful by uniting all German nations."

"That's a pretty high and mighty thing to say from someone who owns a third of the globe." Prussia reminded in a low tone.  
England glared at him. "Oh belt up." He muttered, though he didn't bring it back up. Prussia grinned again, and they got into a carriage which England had taken on his way here.

The year was 1871, and Gilbert was from a thousand years in the future, though he had died in 2032. He laughed at the ridiculousness of it all, and shook his head.

"What are you laughing at." Arthur asked flatly, narrowing his eyes at him from across the carriage.

"You'll understand it when I tell you the full story, but not until." Prussia said quietly.

It took a few hours to get to London, and Ludwig was up and about by then. He was very nervous around two powerful nations, and tried to escape, but Gilbert held him firmly in place. "You aren't going anywhere, scamp." He muttered in the language of nations, and Ludwig's eyes shifted from him to England.

"He wouldn't dare." He chuckled, switching to German to share this only between brothers. England's bushy brows furrowed, clearly annoyed he kept changing languages.

They got out of the carriage, and Arthur got out first, grumbling about how long that had been.  
Gilbert held tight to Ludwig, so the scamp wouldn't run amok in a foreign country. "I'd rather not talk business in front of a baby, so do you have a place he can play or something?" Prussia asked England, once they arrived at his estate.

"Of course. I have to have a place for the colonies when they visit." He scoffed, and they went up to a playroom.

"Here you go. Stay in here, Germany." Prussia ordered, and they shut the door.

"Now then." England started, coughing a bit to get his acquaintance's attention. "To business."

"To business." Gilbert agreed, quietly.

They went to England's office, and Gilbert closed the door.

"What I'm about to say will make me sound crazy, but this is what you asked me to do." He said, his hands up defensively.

"I'm from the future, and you gotta help me stop something from happening, or we're all screwed."

"What?" England laughed heartily. "I've always known you've got a screw loose, but I didn't know you'd try to prank me with something out of one of my people's novels."

"That's the thing." Prussia grumbled. "I'm not trying to prank you." He lifted up his wrist, and showed him the glowing watch with the date on it. "How do you explain your magic on this watch?"

That made England stop laughing. His mouth made a little 'o', and he rushed up to Gilbert, examining his watch. "How strange. What does it do?" He asked, eyeing it carefully. He tore his hand away when Arthur tried to change the date and time.

"Don't touch it. If I fail, I gotta go back to this date." He said, before he started to explain himself. "Hi. I'm Gilbert Beilschmidt, the dissolved nation of the GDR, and formerly the nation of Prussia. You asked me to stop Germany and I from fucking everything up, and you fucking us over further. Then America royally fucked us, and we all died. That's the future I've come to stop, told in my own version.

"You've finally lost it, Prussia." Though he was saying that, he looked shaken. "America is an isolationist nation. He has nothing to do with us."

Prussia raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure." He asked. "Because if you are, why do I have this magical device which has your traces of magic on you?"

"I don't know." England said honestly. "But really, why would I pick you, of all nations, to stop us all from destroying the world?"

"Because. I'm the only one that is in the right spot to stop everything, as Germany is too young at this point in time." He reminded.

"Alright. Say if I did believe you. I would have given you some kind of other proof. A piece of technology from the future." Arthur grumbled. "Do you have one?"

"In fact I do." He smirked. "It's a little dated, but an iPod is something that you've never even dreamt of." He took it out of his pocket, and handed it to Arthur.

England pondered over the strange, cool object. "What does it do?" He asked, confused.  
"It's a portable music playing device. Filled with all your old favorites."

Gilbert took it from him, and turned on a Queen song. Arthur looked bewildered.  
"That's not music." He said firmly.

Gilbert almost fell over laughing. "Boy, I miss the days where you dyed your hair pink and fell in love with rock and roll." He laughed again, and this England looked shocked.

"I did what to my hair?" He demanded an explanation, but Gilbert wasn't offering any. He howled with laughter.

"I forgot the stuck up music we had at this time." He wiped a tear of mirth from his eye. "The Romantic era." He giggled and then collected himself again. "But my point is, you sent me here with a job." He reminded, and smiled fiendishly. "We're going to catch a corrupt nation."

"Which one?" England joked dryly.

"America." He grinned, and England's eyes widened.


	3. Feeling Good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And we meet the third in our trio of world savers.

"America!"  England gasped. "Why do we need him?"  He seemed outraged, but also...a little curious. 

Gilbert nodded.  "He's told me what he's going through now, in the future.  We gotta save him from himself.  He, as a person, fell apart after his civil war."

 _That_ seemed to alert England.  "He what?   Had a civil war?" 

"Man, you really have been trying to avoid news on him.  Yes. Civil war. 10 years ago." He waved a hand.  "Anyway, he went missing afterwards, but he told me where he hid in this time period."

Arthur nodded, looking guilty. "I didn't prepare him enough for this kind of thing... I always assumed he would be mine..."

"I get it.  You fucked up.  I didn't prepare Germany for what might happen to us after war, either, and I regret it to this day."  Gilbert confided.  "We have the opportunity to fix those mistakes though.  Here, now."  He tried to rally England.  "You gave me a second chance for us all, and we can prevent some serious loss of both human and nation's blood."

Arthur nodded, trying to look strong so that he didn't look silly in front of Gilbert. 

"After we collect America, I expect the full story of what we're fighting against."  He murmured, and got up.  "Now, I do suppose I have to dress myself.  Where is the boy, anyway?"

"Where else but the heart of the corruption?"  Gilbert joked, and then flattened out when Arthur gave him a look.  "Big business." 

XXXXX

Getting to America was a long, hard boat trip.  Gilbert had forgotten how much he hated boats.  And now it was the only way he could get around.  England seemed smug when Gilbert was sea sick. "Don't have a pair of sea legs?"  He taunted. 

"There's a reason I don't get around much, or have a bunch of tikes around me."  He muttered, giving Arthur the finger. 

  England shrugged, and looked to the horizon.  "It's been half a century since I saw the boy."

"He's grown up."  Gilbert said.  "Not that 15 year old whose heart you had his own brother burn down." 

Arthur sneered, telling Gilbert to bite him.

"I'm not accusing you of your methods.  During WWII, Germany did it to you."  Gilbert revealed a snippet of the future, and England looked alarmed. 

"London was burned?"

"Bombed."  He corrected. "With technology you haven't even thought up yet."

"How could he have bombed all of London?  That would take too much time, and he would be spotted."  Arthur sounded like the very idea was preposterous.

"From the skies, England.  From the skies."  Gilbert pointed up. "By then, humans could fly in these things called airplanes."

" _Fly?_ "  England sounded incredulous.  "You have to tell me more of these advancements, Prussia.  The world could be so much better!"

"Not all of the technological advancements were good.  We built a superbomb, which could wipe out a city in a second."  _That_ actually scared Arthur.

"A superbomb?"  He murmured. "That could wipe out a city?"

"We called the first one an atom bomb, because it was something science-y related to how an atom was built."  Gilbert sighed. "We used the second and third ones on Japan, and from then, America and the USSR went into an arms race, building bigger and more powerful superbombs." 

"What is the USSR?"  Arthur asked, sounding confused.

"Soviet Russia."  He laughed. They had never thought that Russia would be the one to turn communist. It should have been America, or France.  Not Russia.

"Soviet Russia?  Prussia, that doesn't make sense to me."  He groaned. 

"I'm saying he went communist.  The largest single nation in the world turned into a communist."

England's eyebrows went up, and he could see cold fear in his eyes.  "C-Communist?"  Prussia nodded. 

"I'm going to give you a full layout of the 21st century later.  After we get America out of the shithole he's dug for himself.  I don't want to have to repeat myself."  Prussia grumbled.

"But what I don't understand is why you need us two."  England sat beside him. "I mean, I understand me.  I own a third of the damn globe."

"The second half of the twentieth century in terms of America and Russia."   Gilbert muttered.  "Again, I'll tell you the full story when I have both of you, but long story short, America is one of two superpowers next century."

England nodded, terse.  "Fine." 

XXXXX

Once they were finally there, unlike with England, the teen nation wasn't waiting for them.  "He's in hiding. Mary Todd kicked him out of the White House when Lincoln died, and he fell into the trap of business, drugs, and sex."

That made Arthur's head nearly fly off.  " _Drugs?!  My little brother is on drugs?!"'_  

Gilbert laughed. "You and your traders brought opium here.  It's no wonder he's lived a little."  He became a little serious. "And don't call him your little brother.  He'll get pissy." 

"He knows I'm here now, that alone is going to make him _pissy._ "  Arthur stated, groaning.

"You're right.  But you partially sent me back to save his life."  And play cupid.  But that could come after saving the world.

"He dies?!"  Arthur sounded enraged. "How!?"

"I'll do that later.  With him.  Come on, he's in New York.  We just gotta find his company."

England nodded, grumbling.  "Let's get going."

XXXXX

Getting in to see him was not as easy as they thought.  They were caught by some grunts as Gilbert attempted to sneak inside, and brought straight to the boss, who was holding a gun in one hand, and a pipe for smoking his opium in the other.

America was not too happy to see them, his eyes dilated and lids low.  "What the fuck are y'all doin'."  He grumbled, sitting back in his chair.  England was just barely able to hold his tongue.

"I'm here because you, England and I have some important business- saving the damn world."  Gilbert said plainly. 

"Then I don' see why y'all are coming to me."  America smiled lazily.  "After all, I'm..."  He smoked some of his opium.  "Isolationist."

"Well, first things first."  Gilbert said, ripping the damn opium out of his hands.  "I'm from the future. That's how I knew where to find you.  You told me where you were hiding out."

"That does make a little sense,"  America agreed, becoming more easygoing as the drugs ran through his body.  Gilbert knew getting him off the drugs.  "But I don't see how I can help.  And it also means that I'm more high than I thought."

"I'm only telling you the story after your ass isn't high as fuck."  Gilbert said flatly.

"Fair enough.  I'm a lot less....agreeable though."  He smirked, and Prussia saw how badly England wanted to strangle the boy for getting himself addicted.  America noticed too. 

"What, old man."  His blue eyes were malevolent.  "Are you proud of me?"  He smirked, leaning back into his chair.

Prussia had to hold back England from slapping the shit out of America.  The albino covered his mouth before he said anything, and now free from pissing the younger nation off, he cussed America out.

He then hit Gilbert in the face with his elbow, and that caused some kind of reaction in the German.  Both America and England watched as Gilbert screamed in pain, and he backed up, staggering. 

He started speaking in freaked out German, looking around desperately for help.  "America?"  He said in their shared tongue- the mother tongue of nations. "What the hell am I doing here?  Where are we?  Where have you been?"

And then he seized, falling to the floor, quivering as his eyes rolled back up into his head, and he then froze. 

"Owww, my head."  Gilbert groaned in English.  "What the hell just happened."

America looked scared shitless.  "Either you're really from the future, and your past self just tried to free himself, or I am really more high than I thought."

"Both, tosser."  England muttered with no bite, helping Gilbert up.  "Well, I guess you have our attention.  And our agreement to help you."

"Thanks, guys." Gilbert grumbled. "Glad to know it took some pain to get some help."


End file.
